Picture courtesy Android Police
With the advancements in technology, the world is moving at a significantly fast pace. This has brought convenience and ease in our lives along with efficiency. Tasks can now be completed in less time than before and the output is the same or, in most cases, improved massively. These advancements and modernization are no less than a blessing. However, with more of the advancements, there come more issues associated with them.
Where the advent of technology means better performance, it also means that the existing technology is bound to become redundant faster than before. To address all these concerns, companies, both Android and iOS offer free follow-ups for smartphones for about three to five years. However, this does not do justice with the work needed and the price at which the phone is bought. Therefore, Germany is working on pushing this tenure to 7 years.
This change in the policies will require the phone suppliers to provide support to their devices that have been sold in Europe for a longer period of time than they know of. Moreover, the policy encompasses spare parts changes as well. This implies that the manufacturers and service providers will have to store an inventory of the relevant spare parts as well. The aftermath of this policy has various possibilities. It is also being said that this might inflate the prices of smartphones along with restricted upgraded models as the older ones will have an increased shelf-life.
It was reported by Heise Online that the German government is persuading the European Commission to extend this time to 7 years including any security or software updates and spare parts maintenance. Currently, the EU is considering extending it to five years with a five-day spare part exchange offer.
By 2023, new laws and regulations are expected to be in place. This change in the policies is expected to exhibit a positive effect on both the customers and the environment, minimizing waste and resources. Hence, it is necessary to prepare accordingly.
